Adventure

Well, anyone who knows me knows that I have no sense of direction whatsoever. This is no false modesty resulting from my time here in China, but just the truth. Over many years of getting lost, whether by foot or in the car, I’ve become very used to it, and I don’t really mind getting lost anymore, so long as I’m not in a rush. It helps to think of these times as adventures, I’ve found.

This week I tried going out to see a famous local temple. I remember it being very large and beautiful from my study abroad in Xiamen a few years ago. (We did a tour of southeastern China, and among the places we visited was Quanzhou and the Kaiyuan Temple. ) However, this time, I was by myself and a little vague on the directions, so instead of the temple, I ended up at a park downtown. The park was nice though, with lots of people of all ages hanging out, as is normal in Chinese parks. Chinese parks are much better utilized than American ones, in my opinion.

I dutifully took some pictures, unlike last time.

This picture would look better if it were bigger, but you can see folks outside enjoying the momentarily acceptable weather. It's been cloudy and rain here for weeks now. I would guess we haven't had more than about 5 hours of blue sky for at least three weeks. For example, the morning I set out for the temple, there was a blue sky for about an hour. Clouds quickly rolled in though, and by the time I reached the park, the sky was gray. At least it didn't rain until a few hours later.

The rain here has been unbelievable. One day it quite literally poured all day. Not surprisingly, there have been flooding in the region. All of southeast China is having this problem. The rain doesn't really make much of difference to me though. When it's not raining, it's so humid it might as well be. When it does rain, it's almost like the only change is that now the water in the air is visible.


Graffiti of this kind is rare in China, so I took a picture.



The sign says "area for makeshift tents," which is actually quite a good translation. I wasn't expecting that, haha.


The writing on the bus roughly translates to: “Uphold civilization, pay attention to protocol, comply with authority, establish harmony.” This kind of public service advertisement is quite common. Everywhere there are reminders to behave with civility, keep the city clean, drive carefully, etc. My favorites are the ones that instruct citizens that girls are just as good as boys (part of the campaign to reduce the still-present notion, especially in rural areas, that sons are preferable to daughters.)

I'll work on getting to that temple. Cross your fingers that the weather cooperates, and I find it alright!

Lantern Festival

Back to China! I've got lots of blog posts I'd like to share about China, so now that I've (finally) finished chronicling my trip, it's back to China! This post is very old - the festival happened on February 28.

元宵节快乐！

On the last day of the Chinese New Year Festival, Chinese people celebrate Lantern Festival. I got really lucky, because I was in Quanzhou for the Festival, and Quanzhou is famous for its celebrations. Everyone buys beautiful, intricate paper lanterns to put out. Some rich individuals and businesses spend a lot of money to have professional lanterns made.

In downtown Quanzhou, one of the main temples is decked out with lanterns and opened to the public for a fee. It was crazy how many people were there! It was the sort of situation that could have easily turned dangerous had anything gone awry. As we stood waiting to get into the temple, the crowd was pressed person to person. There was no moving on your own, and if you fell, getting up would be a serious undertaking. Nothing happened, of course, and after waiting in the packed crowd, we got into the temple and were treated to a beautiful display.








There is a pond in the middle of the temple grounds that was particularly beautiful.






I can't even imagine how these were put together, as I'm fairly sure most/all of them were made by hand.






The other part of the lantern festival, besides looking at the beautiful lanterns, is setting off a (usually much plainer) version yourself. First, you light a piece of fuel that is attached to a the bottom of the lantern.




Once the air inside the lantern has heated up enough, away it goes!

Settling In

I'm starting to get into the swing of things around here. This is my second week of classes, which I've really been enjoying. I especially like teaching writing to my undergraduates. English was usually one of my favorite classes, so it makes sense. I'm excited to see improvements in their writing - because of what I taught them!

I hope everyone is staying well; I've heard the swine flu is in full swing in the US. Here it's not yet very widespread. There has only been one case on campus, but he was immediately taken to the hospital. Now all the foreign teachers are required to have their temperature taken before we leave the building every day. I'm not sure for whose protection it is, but we can just report a tempterature that we take ourselves in our room, so it's not really any inconvenience. I heard that during the SARS crisis they completely closed campus for two weeks - no one in or out! I'm hoping nothing so serious happens for the swine flu here.

Katherine, another foreign teacher, moved in next door to me last weekend. She's from Toronto, but born in Quanzhou, so her family showed me around the city. We went to the beach for a seafood restaurant they really like, and then we visited a tea house a little outside the city proper. It was really beautiful, so I've included a couple pictures.



I've also been cooking my own meals. I love cooking, so I couldn't resist showing a few of the dishes I've tried to make. Apologies to the non food-obsessed. :)


Fish balls and baby bok choy - the first meal I made for myself here! There should be rice too. Rice cookers, I would like to add, are magic. Really. Perfect rice without any fuss.


I tried to make quail eggs into a dish. The dish didn't work so well, but i think the eggs look really neat.



Carnations - a gift from Katherine's family. They looked so neat, but when I added them to the soup...

It looks pretty good, no? But you can't see the flowers at all. The petals shrunk into near invisibility. (The soup was still delicious.)

My New Home

"Returning from seeing a friend off at the shore, one feels as far away as the horizon."
-Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi


My move is finally complete. I left behind my friends in Shanghai for a completely new life here in Quanzhou. It was hard to say goodbye, but I was ready for the change. Though I've only been here a week, it seems like I'm where I am supposed to be. I taught my first few classes(!), which were incredibly intimidating but also really enjoyable. Creating syllabi, correcting papers, teaching writing skills, and reviewing grammar: it's all kind of fun for me. I only have 10 classroom hours per week, so I also have plenty of time to work on my Chinese. I've found a Chinese tutor, and I'm so excited to start seeing some improvements!

Huaqiao university has quite a beautiful campus, of which I've included some pictures here:


This is the view from my window of campus and the surrounding area. The place where I am is set into the hills - rather picturesque, no?



One of many tree-lined streets. The buildings here tend to be rather block-like and uninspired, but there are lots of trees and gardens to make up for it.



The rather impressive entrance to the school. Note the blue skies!



There are lots of palm trees to remind me that I'm living in a tropical area, as if the heat and humidity weren't enough. I'm told that it will cool down in the beginning of October. Agh!



The following pictures probably fall into the category, "things in which only a mother would be interested." I've posted some pictures of my apartment, which, by the way, is HUGE. I have a study which I've pretty much abandoned, as I just don't need that much room. Overall though, it's a nice apartment, if rather spartan. The only downside? It's on the 6th floor, and there isn't an elevator.



Here's the entrance. I love the coat rack! My bookshelf needs a lot more books though.




My living room furniture is made of hardwood, which is lovely, but not very comfortable.




My cute little kitchen table. I'm currently using a scarf as a tablecloth until I have the money to buy a real tablecloth. It's not like I'm going to need a scarf anytime soon anyway. ;)



My kitchen! No oven, but a perfectly serviceable stove and microwave. They even provided me with a rice cooker and a wok!




My (already messy) desk. I put a map of Carrboro up above it, in case I get homesick. The desk used to be in my study, but there was plenty of space in my bedroom.



Lastly, my bed. Hard as a rock, of course, but I'm already used to it. In the background is a second desk, which I'm using as a vanity of sorts. It's also covered by one of my scarves right now...